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Maura Foley Bevi Business Development Representative In February 2020’s Bevi Employee Spotlight, meet Maura Foley – a Business Development Representative at Bevi’s Boston office. Joined for just 5 months ago, see how Bevi has shaped her first working experience.

What is your role at Bevi?

I am a business development representative on the sales team. My team reaches out to potential customers to see if they are interested in Bevi! I’m currently covering territories such as Seattle, Portland, and Houston and working with sales reps in those regions. I reach out through email and set up tastings for offices to experience Bevi flavors for themselves.

What does “working at Bevi” mean to you?

Working at Bevi means making an environmental difference in one office at a time. It is great seeing the impact we are creating through our machines. I think working for a company that is so mission-focused to help other companies become more sustainable is truly rewarding. I love hearing the excitement our customers get when they want to implement a Bevi in their office – showing our enthusiasm is rubbing off!

What do “Diversity and Inclusion at Bevi” mean to you?

Bevi has such a familial culture that diversity and inclusion are embedded in our everyday work life. Our office is so accepting when it comes to people’s backgrounds and experiences. Everyone is encouraged to be themselves when doing their job. It is great to have such a supportive network of coworkers that embrace differences.

What is your favorite flavor and customization, why?

Peach Mango sparkling is by far my favorite. I am constantly drinking it throughout the day! I am a big seltzer fan so I love making any flavor with extra bubbles. It is fun to drink when plain water gets boring. When I think of the fruits peach and mango I think of sweet and refreshing which is exactly how this flavor tastes!

Passions and Interests outside of the office that you have:

Outside of the office, you can usually find me hanging out with friends and family. On weekends I’m usually exploring new breweries or watching the Patriots. I also love to golf! This past summer I joined a golf league and had so much fun participating. My game definitely improved throughout the summer.

What are the cool projects you are working on?

Currently, we are trying to find different ways to find new customers other than through email. We are training on cold calling and on how to approach each situation. My team and I are building out lists of ideal companies that should have a Bevi. It is great to researching and learning about companies throughout my specific regions. There are so many companies that could benefit with a Bevi in their office.

What exactly do you do?

As a business development rep, my job is to prospect potential Bevi clients. I reach out through email and begin the sales funnel. I am the first person they are in touch with at bevi so I am basically the voice of the brand! Once a person is interested I connect them with a territory manager and set up an introductory call or tasting. I am constantly strategizing on companies to target that I think would be a great fit for Bevi.

What was your experience before Bevi?

Bevi is actually my first job out of college! Throughout college, I did various internships in the marketing world. One of my favorite experiences was with a start-up hard seltzer company. I was a marketing and sales intern doing everything under the sun! This was a 3 full-time employee company so I got to take on tasks that a typical intern would not be given. It was an amazing experience and I actually found out about Bevi through an office space we rented out that summer!

Look out for new employee spotlights! Check out October’s spotlight – Joe Brumaghim!

And if you’re interested in joining the team check out our current job openings here: https://bevi.co/careers/#opportunities

Bevi Employee Spotlight October 2019 Joe Brumaghim

Bevi Employee Spotlight October 2019 Joe Brumaghim

In October 2019’s Bevi Employee Spotlight, meet Joe Brumaghim – a Senior Software Engineer at Bevi’s Boston office. He has been part of the Bevi family for over three years.

What exactly do you do?

I am a Full-stack Software Engineer. I work on everything from open valves to implement features in our servicing dashboard. I write software in C, Java, Typescript in my day-to-day.

What are the cool projects you are working on?

One of the cool projects I am working on at work is creating automation suite and test harnesses for our new next-generation machine. Every time we make a change, we will run our machine through many tests to give us confidence in our build.

What was your experience before Bevi?

Bevi was actually my first full-time job outside of school. Before, I used to work in data centers.

What does working at Bevi mean to you?

Specifically, being a part of the environmental impact is a huge deal to me. We save countless bottles a month.

What does Diversity & Inclusion at Bevi mean to you?

Oh man, haha I honestly don’t think about it that often because it’s so great here. It’s just not a thing like it’s never been an issue, but you know, regardless of age, gender, anything, everyone is included. Especially for me, it was age, I started here when I was 19 as a software engineer.

What is your favorite flavor and customization and why?

Raspberry is my favorite flavor right now because I have always been a huge fan of it. We used to have raspberries at my parents’ place in New Hampshire and I think that’s why I like it so much. Although, most of the time I like still water though. I like it plain, personally not a sparkling guy. That also kinda goes into what I like in general for food and drinks, a super plain guy with no customization.

Passions & interests outside of the office:

I’m a big fan of longboarding as well as video games and programming on the side. I own two Z-boards and play a range of games, from Tetris 99 to Rocket League.

Author: Tommy Nguyen

Look out for new employee spotlights MONTHLY! Check out July’s spotlight – Sammy Cohen!

And if you’re interested in joining the team check out our current job openings here: https://bevi.co/careers/



Sammy Cohen, Product Manager, in Panama City, Panama!

Sammy Cohen - Title

What does working at Bevi mean to you?

Working at Bevi has given me the opportunity to connect with so many incredibly smart, driven and passionate people. Bevi represents a shift in cultural norms toward *mandatory* sustainability. Not thinking about our environment and our consumption habits is simply no longer an option, and I’m thrilled to be a part of the team that is working to change deeply rooted patterns of plastic usage by developing a drink platform that is eco-friendly, innovative and consumer-focused at every touch-point. 

What does Diversity & Inclusion at Bevi mean to you?

Inclusion at Bevi means being a human at every touch-point. Bevi does a great job of understanding people to the core and supporting/ nurturing what it is that makes this person tick… and then, of course, celebrating it!

What is your favorite flavor and customization and why? 

Bevi Sparkling Grapefruit is my all-time favorite, with flavor set to bold. The flavor is fruit-forward with just enough tartness that keeps it refreshing and light, and the sparkling gives it that added boost of “something special”. 

What kind of reusable water bottle/glass do you use with Bevi?

Last Christmas, I got a customized Yeti water bottle as a gift and it’s been with me every day, since! It’s my side-kick :). 

Passions & interests outside of the office: 

Outside of the office, I can be found hustlin’ socks for my beloved passion project, Neon Bandits, kicking it with family and friends in Boston and beyond, or planning my next trip off the grid. (I recently visited a remote island off the coast of Panama– HIGHLY recommend it!)

Check out Sammy’s passion project Neon Bandits here!

Look out for new employee spotlights MONTHLY! Meet Jenny Seto,  Rhiannon Chiacchiaro, and Alyssa Parchment in our June 2019 Employee Spotlight!

And if you’re interested in joining the team check out our current job openings here: https://bevi.co/careers/#opportunities

Sammy Cohen

Vanessa Shaw speaking at Culture Summit

Vanessa Shaw speaking at Culture Summit, San Francisco.

You’ve been in the workplace culture space for a long time. Tell us about your journey.

I’ve been an advocate for the importance of workplace culture ever since 2001. I fell in love with culture as a body of work when I had my first experience living in a different country as a study abroad student in London. It has taken my career in many directions. I’ve worked in the nonprofit, public and private sector. I facilitated cross-cultural trainings for volunteer abroad programs, taught creative leadership skills at the Pentagon, and coached CEOs on how to design cultures that achieve their business goals.

Like anyone who has had a few career pivots, at some point you look at your career and ask yourself, “How does this all make sense?” I realized that ultimately I love bringing people together. My mission is to create a space for people to build community, be inspired, and have the courage to take action.

vanessa shaw blog community

Bring your community together to discuss culture.

This is what Human Side of Tech is all about: I help company leaders to understand the value of culture and build it into their business strategy, as well as coach individuals on how to uncover their own ability to drive culture. More recently, I’ve been on the teams for TEDxBarcelonaWomen, Culture Summit, and supported Culture Amp in their Culture First tour. Throughout the year, I bring people together through interactive workshops that focus on incorporating Design Thinking and human-centered design practices into employee experience design.

How did your experience living and working abroad influence the way you think about culture in the context of the workplace?

Because of my international experience, I started out with a more global perspective of the meaning of culture. This global understanding of culture is different from what most people mean nowadays when they mention “workplace culture.” Within the US, culture is often seen from an organizational design or organizational psychology point of view.

There is, however, a whole other school of thought — anthropology — that is really the authority on culture. For me, I started with an understanding of anthropology, cross-cultural teams, and intercultural competence. Organizational design came later.

vanessa shaw interview bevi

Photography by Jennifer Emerling, courtesy of All Hands. 

While cultural discussions pertaining to Silicon Valley may dominate the conversation, there’s a multitude of ways to think about culture. One area that often gets overlooked is cross-sector collaboration, particularly collaborations between government and private sector organizations. These partnerships have a big influence on the world we live in.

Organizational design is an important aspect of workplace culture, but it’s just a small sliver of something much bigger.

It sounds like company culture is much bigger and far reaching than we all think.

Yes. Workplace design, team culture, and diversity are just slices of the pie. There’s a lot more on the table.

Airbnb, for example, has shown that their workplace culture not only impacts the people inside their office walls, but also affects what happens outside those walls in the local community and beyond. When you gain an understanding of your impact across multiple communities and then apply that knowledge, there’s a huge opportunity to redefine the scope and impact of your company’s culture.

Vanessa Shaw Quote for Bevi

In the same sense, there’s also a huge career opportunity here. Businesses, cities, and states are going to need more people that are culturally tuned in and able to build bridges between the existing gaps.

This might be a chicken-and-egg question, but why do you think we’re so focused on workplace culture these days as compared to 20, or even 10, years ago?

I don’t believe there was one specific event; like anything, it was a combination of things. I think we just reached a tipping point.

Different research kept pointing to the same trend: when a company invested in the employee experience, it improved the customer experience as well.

The research done by Glassdoor had a particular impact on me. They found that since 2009, Fortune’s “Best Companies to Work For” performed 84.2% better than the S&P 500, while Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work” outperformed the general market by around 115 percent.

The message was simple: if you treat your employees well, your company was more likely to be financially successful. When people kept hearing this same message, they started to listen.

culture leaders dinner vanessa shaw

Guests at a Culture Leaders Dinner Party.

Around this same time, we began to see rapid change in a number of industries due to digital disruption. As a result, the skillset of the average worker changed dramatically as we entered into the knowledge economy in which we currently work.

We began to focus on the employee as a ‘user’ of a company; or in other words, we began to recognize employees as individuals the company directly served. This was a monumental shift. If you would like a more in-depth exploration of this, I recommend the book Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux.

How does this factor into your company, Human Side of Tech?

A large part of why my brand is Human Side of Tech is due to the amount of focus on technology and how much, and how fast, it continues to change. I believe that these rapid changes in technology open up space to empower us to focus more on humanity.

Human interaction facilitated by technology is everywhere. Everyone has a favorite story about an experience with a Lyft driver. We didn’t have these interactions until technology brought us together.

employee experience design Vanessa Shaw sticky notes culture

Some people are worried and claim that technology is getting rid of human interaction. I take an optimistic stance. As the famous Spider-Man quote goes, “with great power comes great responsibility.” I see technology as a huge opportunity to bring us together, but we have to be smart about it.

Here’s a hard question: how do you define culture?

Culture is everywhere. And it’s created by everyone.

There are many, many different definitions. Instead of adding yet another definition, I like to remind people of an aspect of culture that is typically unmentioned: culture is a value system by which we judge the world around us. It encompasses how we define good or bad, right or wrong, pretty or ugly, admirable or disgraceful, successful or not.

It’s trendy to say “I’m not judgmental.” That’s simply not true — all humans are programmed to judge.

Knowing this, there’s still room to grow, and the way we do this is by improving our own ability to understand how we are judging. By defining the core values of a culture, you’re setting up the cultural system that will establish what you believe is good or bad, a reason to hire or fire, and what the company defines as a successful quarter.

Even though “culture” has reached buzzword status, what are some of the biggest challenges companies still face when trying to define— or redefine — workplace culture?

When it comes down to it, we need to unlearn a lot of things.

There’s a long history of how companies have been run, how we define roles in Human Resources, and how HR serves a company overall. Traditional Human Resources was designed to serve the average employee 60 years ago. Because of this, there are many ingrained, systemic issues that have to be unlearned and unraveled.

It’s much harder to unlearn what we already know than to learn things that are brand new.

We’re now seeing that Human Resources is becoming ‘People Operations.’ This doesn’t change too much. This is what I would call a pivot.

vanessa shaw human side of tech bevi

What I really love seeing are renovations. When you renovate your house, you break down walls and you create a whole new space to live in. Ultimately, we need to unlearn and undo. We need to renovate the way organizations manage people, culture, talent — the entire employee experience.

One way to begin doing this is by giving space for the creative process. It is not always the fastest way to get immediate results, but it offers the ability to find the long term, scalable impact.

This is why I’m a proponent of design thinking: it helps us to look at things with fresh eyes, to come up with ideas you never thought could exist, and experiment with new approaches that can completely revolutionize your organization.


To find out more about Vanessa Shaw and her upcoming events, visit the Human Side of Tech website.

Start Your Own BYOB initiative with Bevi

Often times, the Office Manager is on the front lines of a continuous battle between those employees who value convenience and those who prioritize environmental impact. From balancing the office’s budget to fielding all types of employee complaints, the Office Manager is almost always stuck between a rock and a hard place.

As with any daunting task, it’s best to start small. And implementing a Bring Your Own Reusable Bottle initiative is a great place to start.

Rather than stocking and restocking sky-scrapers of plastic cups in your kitchen, reduce your plastic waste exponentially by encouraging employees to take their favorite canteen into work with them. This BYOB approach will not only save the Office Manager time, but save money — money that can be reinvested in something everyone in the office will love, like fruit or snacks!

Don’t left the office kitchen battles continue: check out these 5 tactful ways to get everyone on board — and even excited about — the new BYOB initiative.

Green Strategy #1: Form an eco-minded task force

Form an eco-minded task force

Remember: there’s strength in numbers.

Whether you’re an Office Manager or an environmentally-conscious employee, it’s best to have a team of people behind you when proposing a new and drastic change to life at the office.

Don’t face the rebuttals and complaints alone. Gather a squad, inform them of the change and its rationale, and let the company know that there’s a whole group of excited employees ready to answer any questions that may come up.

Especially at larger companies, where it’s unlikely everyone knows each other on a first name basis, try to involve a few people from each department in your sustainability task force. Employees are more likely to trust and support the people they work with everyday than a faceless email announcement from someone they’ve never met.

Before kicking-off your BYOB program, be sure to form a squad of people who can help hype up its positive, environmental impact, as well as field any comments or concerns different departments may have.

Green Strategy #2: The long distance relationship

Is this your recycling bin? Looks like it’s time to get Bevi.

For some offices, getting rid of plastic cups might be as simple as never buying them again. In other offices, however, the transition might not be as smooth. If you’re worried about an impromptu employee mutiny, there are several ways to ease your office into a more zero-waste approach to water cooler talk.

After launching your BYOB program, try leaving only a small stack of plastic cups in plain sight. Chances are, many folks won’t go looking — or won’t know where to look — when the stack disappears. This will help to incentivize people to bring in their bottles, since having to find and restock the plastic cups is more effort than carrying your own bottle. You might get some annoyed comments about the lack of cups over Slack, but stay strong! Tell these folks where they can find more cups, but don’t restock them yourself.

If your office isn’t equipped with reusable glassware, keeping an emergency pack of single-use cups on hand is kind of a must — especially if you frequently have visitors. In this case, stash the solo cups away in a secret cabinet or drawer, and reveal them only when you’re expecting guests.

In general, if the BYOB initiative is more controversial than you planned, relieve separation anxiety by making the transition from plastic cups as gradual and reasonable as possible.

Green strategy #3: Get custom bottles made for your office

Office Hydration Bevi

If you’ve got the budget, this is a no brainer.

What better way to launch your BYOB initiative than to purchase a personalized or company-branded (or both!) reusable bottle for each of your employees.

Many companies that are both getting a Bevi and moving into a completely new office space like to include reusable bottles as part of a ‘Welcome to Your New Office’ gift for each employee. Broadly speaking, moving into a new space is the perfect occasion to put new, eco-friendly systems in place!

While not every office has the funds to purchase bottles for everyone, there are many work-arounds. Water proof stickers are a simple and affordable way to get employees hyped about showing off their newly decorated reusable bottle around the office. Have your designers create a whole series of stickers to pick and choose from, or get everyone a decal of their name. Another solution is to work with your team to select and design a bottle that people can order on their own if they so choose — this works well in offices in which most people already have a favorite bottle, and may not need the company topurchase one for them.

Once your custom bottles arrive, encourage folks to leave them at work. With shiny, new reusable bottles on their desks, the die-hard plastic cup users will surely become BYOB champions.

Green Strategy #4: Reinforce — and reward! — positive behaviors

Shoutouts on Namely

At Bevi, we love giving shoutouts over Slack or in our HR portal, Namely.

Ever heard of intermittent reinforcement conditioning? If you haven’t, all you need to know is this: it works! As foreign as this term may sound, chances are it’s something you’re already doing in the office. Each time you randomly give a shoutout to an employee over Slack, you are using the power of intermittent conditioning to motivate and reinforce positive behaviors!

The true beauty of intermittent conditioning lies in the fact that you only have to reward behaviors occasionally in order to reinforce them. In knowing that they might get recognition for their positive behavior, employees will start to make good habits part of their normal routine, whether it’s helping to clean out the fridge or bringing their reusable bottle into work.

Don’t take this the wrong way: we’re not suggesting you treat your co-workers like Pavlov’s dogs!

All we’re saying is that highlighting or rewarding someone who has brought their reusable bottle into work is a really great way to motivate that individual — and others — to keep your BYOB initiative going strong.

Green Strategy #5: Proudly share positive results

Cheers to reusable bottles

A toast, to all those who use a reusable bottle. Cheers!

Similar to Green Strategy #4, keep your BYOB program top-of-mind by frequently sharing how it has positively impacted your office and beyond.

In addition to a company-wide email or appreciation post, go big and briefly share results in the next All Hands meeting. If eliminating plastic cups has saved you enough money to buy more snacks for your office, put a sign on the fridge or water cooler explaining how the new treats are the fruits of your office’s collective labor!

For companies that have an explicitly environmental mission, your newly instated BYOB initiative could be a great occasion to brag about your company’s awesomeness on social media. Some companies might even opt to highlight an eco-warrior of the month; in other words, give a shoutout to an employee that has gone above and beyond when it comes to keeping things green at work.

Whether you’re a small startup or an international corporation, a Bring Your Own Reusable Bottle initiative is a simple and effective way to reduce your office’s footprint.

The quick answer is no, you do not really need a foosball table. You also don’t need a well-stocked beer fridge, free lunches, or office Segways.

bevi and ping pong paddles

Foosball certainly translates a laid-back, fun-loving culture into something you can touch. (Just as a Bevi transforms a forward thinking, sustainability-minded culture into something  you can taste!) And these things might be the perfect expressions of your workplace culture. But they don’t make a culture on their own. After all, what good is a tube slide between floors if your culture demands professional business wear every day?

Your workplace culture should be evident in everything you do, from the way you approach a project to the benefits your employees enjoy. Then, it should be talked about widely to attract the kinds of talent who will make a great fit. Because ultimately, you want employees to be as excited about your 9am strategy meeting as they are about your 5pm cocktail hour.

Here’s how to make that happen.

1. Paint a picture of culture

Start with your company’s mission and vision. Then go beyond, to the less obvious values and beliefs. Think about what sets you apart in your industry, or in the world. Do you excel at collaboration? Do you prioritize learning and? Do you approach your work as both meaningful and fun? Considering your collective values, beliefs and interests will help give shape and form to your workplace culture.

2. Tap into top talent

As you determine what you value, check in with your top performers. Find out what you’re already doing that’s keeping those folks happy. Dig into what brought them to you initially as well as what keeps them motivated in their day-to-day work. These nuggets of culture, some you may not even be aware of, will help you attract more of the same kind of talent.

3. Perk it up

When Apple added full education reimbursement to its list of benefits, the message was clear—Apple cares about learning and development. Other companies offer flexible schedules with remote work options, unlimited and untracked vacation time, and even paid monthly housecleaning. Fabulous perks, indeed. But also, emblematic of cultures that value work-life balance, mutual trust, and time to recharge. Get clear about what you value and believe to can attract like-minded employees.

Bevi Countertop

Show what you care about to attract employees who care too!

4. Pull it through

Once you’ve aligned your benefits and perks, keep going. Weave your laid-back culture through everything you so, so that prospective employees feel it long before they see the foosball table. Flow your collaborative approach beyond your open floor plan into the way you talk, the way you interview, and the way you present your company on social media and beyond. Make your culture something that can be identified and felt beyond your office walls.

5. Talk about it

Once your culture is in place, talk about it. Everywhere. Share snapshots of your culture on social media, talk about it in your job ads, and weave it into your interview questions. Get your employees to talk about it too. Make videos, host events, and speak about it at conferences. And sure, if it’s right for your culture, maybe even hold that foosball competition you’ve dreamed about.